Doctor Says There Is Way Too Much Focus On The Fat Content Of Foods

There was an interesting article I read recently online titled: Saturated Fat Heart Disease ‘Myth’.

It is great to see the truth about saturated fat finally making the news.

If you have read some of my previous articles you might know that I am a big advocate of eating all types of natural fats even though they are demonised by food companies as being the cause of all sorts of problems, especially saturated fats.

Just to remind you saturated fats come from foods such as butter, steak, eggs, bacon, sausage, nuts, coconut oil, fish oil, chocolate, cream and cheese.

The long standing link between heart disease and saturated fats has been seriously brought into question.

Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiology registrar at a hospital in London, said there was: “way too much focus on the fat content in food as opposed to sugar.”

The common advice you will get from your GP, and doctors have been saying this for a while, is to reduce your fat intake by going on a low fat diet to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Unfortunately a low fat diet is often high in sugar. If the fat levels are reduced, in most cases it is replaced by sugar, which is much more likely to cause inflammation and lead to heart disease .

Sugars such as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) cause massive disruption of your hormones, and it all starts with insulin.

Insulin is a massive growth hormone and its presence promotes weight gain, so in general the less of it the better.

Conversely, we actually need fats for many mechanisms inside our bodies, for example they act as building materials for our hormones. Our brain is made up of 60% fat, so therefore, eating it is essential.

Avoiding fats altogether will throw your hormones out of balance and your mental health and function will also be affected.

The article also discusses the benefits of taking statins to lower cholesterol. Dr Malhotra says a Mediterranean diet containing loads of good fats like extra virgin olive oil, oily fish, nuts along with quality fruit and veg is three times more effective at reducing mortality after a heart attack than taking statins.

It has been drilled into us for the past 50 years that cholesterol is bad for us, so now for someone to say that is not the case is a bit confusing.

Here is the important point and what has changed.

It is now believed that cholesterol, damaged by free radicals, is the stuff which sticks to and clogs up our arteries. Most other types of cholesterol are ok and needed for essential bodily functions.

It should be noted, we are a nation of smokers – 23% of Welsh people (where I am from) smoke. The carcinogens in cigarette smoke create lots of free radicals, and that’s why smoking is thought to be the biggest causes of oxidised cholesterol, and thus THE greatest risk factor for a coronary event or heart disease .

So the new school of thought is like this: cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease, neither do saturated fats – inflammation does.

Lowering your toxin intake in a natural way is the best way to combat all of the harmful things that modern day life throws at us.

As always if you have any questions or have something to say, leave a comment below.

Thanks,

Richard